The present invention relates to a detection method of detecting a specific polymer crystal, namely a specific macromolecule crystal in sample solution.
Worldwide attention has been paid to the structural analysis of protein crystals in connection with the development in the genome plane since a double helix structure of DNA was discovered. A method using NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance apparatus) a method using an electron microscope, a method using the X-ray diffraction phenomenon, etc. have been developed for the structure analysis of protein crystals, and particularly the X-ray crystal structure analysis using the X-ray diffraction phenomenon has been rapidly advanced in connection with the developments of a two-dimensional X-ray detector such as an imaging plate or the like, analyzing software for two-dimensional data, etc.
In the protein crystal structure analysis using the X-ray diffraction phenomenon, it has been hitherto general that a protein crystal grain achieved by crystallizing protein in solution is first poured into a narrow tube called as a capillary together with the solution, and the capillary concerned is mounted in an X-ray diffraction device.
In order to carry out the X-ray structural analysis of protection crystals by using the X-ray diffraction deice as described above, a protein crystal as a target must be accurately positioned to an X-ray irradiating position. Therefore, after a sample solution poured capillary is mounted in the X-ray diffraction device, the protein crystal in the capillary is visually observed by using a microscope, and it is manually positioned to the X-ray irradiating position.
The search of the protein crystal through the visual observation as described above and the positioning work are cumbersome and take much time. In addition, these works must be carried out every time one measuring operation is finished, and thus this method is unsuitable to rapidly measure/evaluate many samples automatically.
The number of proteins constituting a human body extends to 50,000 to 100,000 kinds of proteins, and it has been urgently required in the recent structural biology to clarify many protein structures in a short time.
The present invention has been implemented in view of the foregoing situation, and has an object to provide a specific macromolecule crystal detecting method that can easily search a specific macromolecule crystal sample from sample solution and contribute to the quick processing of measuring/evaluating specific macromolecule crystals.